… a few of my favorite things to do

by Charles de Lint – This is one of my favorite de Lint novels so far. (Yes, I’m reading them in order. Is this a surprise to anyone? No, didn’t think so.) The work includes some mythologies of Ireland, the Kikaha tribe and the deserts of the American southwest in a high-stakes collision. Family conflicts, loss and romances play out in a world where there is true magic in art, both old and new. The characters who live and act in this world (primarily set in Newford) are challenged to find their deepest wells of humanity when dealing with powers that are not at all human and with one another. If they cannot retain and act on that humanity, they will have lost, even if they win. It’s this interplay of the personal and the mythical that make de Lint a master of urban fantasy. Highly recommended. (finished 2/13/12)